Cultivation: Start From Simplifying Martial Arts Techniques

“Tsk!”

The blade sliced through the void, emitting a faint sound. Jian Jinsheng’s longsword was already in front of Chen Fei.

From beginning to end, Jian Jinsheng hadn’t spoken a word. He only stared at Chen Fei with pitch-black eyes, a cold, manic cruelty in his expression.

“Boom!”

Chen Fei’s Qianyuan Sword struck first, colliding with Jian Jinsheng’s blade. Chen Fei remained motionless, while Jian Jinsheng took a few steps back.

At the Second Transformation of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, Jian Jinsheng’s cultivation was on par with Qin Haishan, but in terms of combat strength, Jian Jinsheng was undoubtedly stronger at this moment.

Not only because Jian Jinsheng’s mental state had reached the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, allowing him to control elemental energy more precisely, but also because Jian Jinsheng had fallen into a state of madness, and the surrounding black mist had given him a boost.

He had fallen into madness, or rather, his mind had been tainted.

With a simple sword strike, Chen Fei had a rough idea of Jian Jinsheng’s situation through his Heavenly Eye.

In theory, these black mists should never have affected the mind of someone in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, let alone someone in the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

However, Jian Jinsheng had been inexplicably affected, and moreover, he had fallen deep into madness.

From the outbreak of the black mist until now, it hasn’t actually been a long time. Even if one’s mind accidentally gets tainted, it shouldn’t be this severe.

It’s as if Jian Jinsheng deliberately let his mind roam freely, allowing it to be contaminated, but even the most extreme cultivators of the demonic path wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Unless Jian Jinsheng’s mind was already tainted to begin with and is now being triggered?”

A thought flashed through Chen Fei’s mind as he recalled the scene of Jian Jinsheng’s mind reaching the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm when he had glimpsed it in the Strange Heart Realm.

It was during that time that Chen Fei had discovered that Jian Jinsheng’s mental state had reached the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, and several sects had to journey to the Boundless Sea.

In recent years, Jian Jinsheng’s cultivation had advanced rapidly, not only due to his remarkable innate talent but also with the assistance of the Strange Heart Realm.

However, refining the Evil within the Strange Heart Realm was not as simple as it seemed. Chen Fei had to rely on a complex Heart Refinement Formation to purify the contamination within the Evil’s source.

If Jian Jinsheng had a similar method of purification, it would be fine. But if he used other methods that didn’t thoroughly remove the contamination, over time, his mind would inevitably develop problems.

Over the years, this contamination would accumulate, becoming increasingly difficult to overcome.

Chen Fei realized that in the past few years, Jian Jinsheng’s rate of cultivation improvement wasn’t as fast as everyone initially speculated. Perhaps Jian Jinsheng himself had noticed the issue with his mind.

Currently, Jian Jinsheng was only slightly stronger in cultivation than Tong Zhongqiu, and there was still a considerable distance to break through to the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Moreover, the fact that he had fallen into madness was not just a matter of whether he could break through to the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, but whether he could recover from this manic state.

If he could recover, perhaps his mind would become even stronger after breaking through the current limitations.

If he couldn’t recover, everything would be lost.

And now, surrounded by the black mist, these dark vapors continued to seep into Jian Jinsheng’s body, reducing the possibility of his recovery.

As if sensing Chen Fei’s tenacity, Jian Jinsheng instinctively wanted to distance himself. However, his mind, tainted by madness, contradicted this instinct, driven only by a thirst for bloodshed.

Jian Jinsheng’s mouth opened wide, black veins started appearing on his face, his entire aura surged violently, and he even pushed himself beyond the limits of his body in a desperate attempt to gain more power.

Under the influence of madness, when faced with a situation, he would go to extremes, aware that his current state might not be enough to overpower Chen Fei, and thus he began to squeeze every bit of strength from himself.

Chen Fei lifted the Qianyuan Sword in his hand, his figure flickering, leaving a lingering afterimage in place. His true self appeared in front of Jian Jinsheng, thrusting his sword forward.

Blood Ignition Technique! Aperture-Cracking Technique!

The Qianyuan Sword had unknowingly been engulfed in a layer of blood flames, and the faint roar of a dragon and elephant resonated through the void.

Between Jian Jinsheng and Chen Fei, there was personal enmity, but it hadn’t reached the point of no reconciliation. Initially, Chen Fei had been completely off Jian Jinsheng’s radar, just like the Primordial Sword Sect.

Jian Jinsheng’s main targets had always been Tong Zhongqiu and the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect.

As for the other smaller sects, they were just expendable entities in Jian Jinsheng’s eyes.

As long as he dealt with the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect, any affiliated sects that pleased him would be absorbed into his faction. Those that didn’t please him could be eliminated entirely.

In the eyes of ordinary people, a cultivator at the Combined Aperture Tempering realm was considered a formidable expert, but in Jian Jinsheng’s eyes, they were just so-so.

So when the Divine Flame Sect and the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect clashed back then, many of the Divine Flame Sect’s decisions seemed quite arbitrary, doing whatever they pleased.

To put it nicely, it was called acting on instinct. To put it bluntly, there was no method to their actions at all.

Looking back now, it’s possible that many members of the Divine Flame Sect at the time had their minds slightly tainted. This contamination might not have been apparent in their daily lives, but it had a definite impact on their personalities.

The entire Divine Flame Sect had always given off an impression of unpredictability, and the higher their cultivation, the more pronounced this trait became.

Feeling the might of Chen Fei’s sword, Jian Jinsheng roared in anger. He thrust his sword as well, and the surrounding black mist followed him, surging towards Chen Fei.

In a daze, it seemed like everything around them had turned against Chen Fei. In Chen Fei’s perception, the whole world seemed to shrink until only Jian Jinsheng’s sword remained.

This sword seemed to encompass everything, leaving no room to dodge, as if there was no escape except to face it head-on.

Chen Fei narrowed his eyes slightly, and within his sea of consciousness, the Profound Slaying Sword moved, tearing through the illusion before him.

The sky remained the same, only Jian Jinsheng’s blade came closer to Chen Fei.

“Boom!”

The black mist was torn apart directly, dispersing and gradually coalescing afterward. Jian Jinsheng involuntarily stepped backward, floating in mid-air, emitting a dull sound, like thunder.

“Puffi-

After several steps, Jian Jinsheng still couldn’t dissipate the immense force within his body. He spat out a mist of blood.

Even in the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, there were not many who could withstand Chen Fei’s sword at this moment without using the sword element within the spatial grid.

Even the top talents of the powerful factions within the Thousand Feathers Alliance, who were also in the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, wouldn’t fare much better against Chen Fei.

Unless they directly wielded high-grade or higher magical treasures, they could only slightly narrow the gap between them.

With the physique of the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm and his current cultivation in Suppressing Dragon Elephant, Chen Fei’s physique continued to strengthen compared to when he first broke through the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, gaining considerable enhancement.

Although it had not yet reached the level of the physique in the later stages of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, it was no less than the physique of those in the mid-stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm who specialized in physique cultivation. The mid-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators of the Tiandao Sect, for example, would likely have little difference in physique compared to Chen Fei.

Moreover, with the cultivation of the Second Transformation of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, coupled with the Three Lives Broken Shadow Sword technique he practiced, and most importantly, which early-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivator could directly release two forbidden techniques like Chen Fei during battle?

With a simple activation, he could instantly use two forbidden techniques. It was as if he was breaking free from a net!

But for Chen Fei, his current state was just a regular combat form. If he truly went all out, he could activate four forbidden techniques and unleash the sword element within the spatial grid.

From every perspective, Chen Fei had almost reached the pinnacle of the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, the true zenith of his combat power.

Jian Jinsheng was formidable, and the Jian Jinsheng who had fallen into madness was even stronger than an average early-stage Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivator, but in front of Chen Fei, he was insufficient.

“You…”

Jian Jinsheng’s eyes, which had been completely black, now showed a glimpse of white.

This heavy blow had actually brought a brief moment of clarity to Jian Jinsheng’s mind. In the face of life and death, the instinctual desire for survival took precedence.

Jian Jinsheng looked at Chen Fei, and suddenly, an image flashed through his mind. It was the scene when the Immortal Cloud Sword Sect had moved to the Boundless Sea, one after another entering the secret realm.

In that image, Jian Jinsheng had captured Chen Fei’s face, a cultivator in the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm within the Primordial Sword Sect.

Early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm?

Jian Jinsheng’s sea of consciousness churned violently, and the clarity he had regained was almost about to be obscured once more.

In just a few years, a cultivator in the early stage of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm not only broke through to the Combined Aperture Tempering realm but also possessed such power?

Jian Jinsheng was almost inclined to suspect that his own mind, tainted as it was, was giving rise to even more severe hallucinations.

Chen Fei didn’t speak, but he swiftly moved to Jian Jinsheng’s front, preparing to deliver a fatal blow. However, his mental sense suddenly stirred, and he felt a tremendous force pressing down on his shoulder.

“Fallen into madness?”

A figure appeared silently on the side, observing Jian Jinsheng with keen interest. Then, the figure turned to glance at Chen Fei, sizing him up.

“We’ve met!” Chen Fei said as he felt the dissipation of the force on his shoulder, bowing respectfully.

Chen Fei recognized this person, and in fact, there were probably very few Combined Aperture Tempering realm cultivators within the Thousand Feathers Alliance who didn’t know him.

Jiang Xiuming, the Supreme Elder of the Tiandao Sect, a peak Combined Aperture Tempering realm expert.

He wore a plain blue robe, quite different from the robust figures of the other Tiandao Sect disciples. Jiang Xiuming appeared somewhat slender, with no trace of the characteristic features of Tiandao Sect’s cultivation methods.

“Incarnating madness here, even if you’re not killed by him, you’ll ultimately face death.”

Jiang Xiuming said, then turned his gaze back to Jian Jinsheng and continued, “However, falling into madness isn’t entirely useless. Can you sense the aura of spiritual treasures?”

“Spiritual treasures?”

Jian Jinsheng, recognizing Jiang Xiuming’s identity, was taken aback by his words.

“Yes, spiritual treasures! If you can sense them and assist me in finding a spiritual treasure, afterward, I can help cleanse your tainted mind,” Jiang Xiuming said with a deep tone.

Jiang Xiuming had been searching for quite some time, and while he hadn’t found any spiritual treasures, he had noticed the unusual spiritual resonance scattered all around.

Clearly, there was a peculiar symbiotic and confrontational relationship between the spiritual treasures and the oddities of this place. The oddities possessed a special sensitivity to the location of the spiritual treasures.

Because of this, upon seeing Jian Jinsheng fall into madness, Jiang Xiuming had the idea that perhaps he could use him to locate the spiritual treasure. Even determining a general direction would be helpful.

“And you, I know you excel at searching for secrets and techniques. From now on, stick by my side, and you’ll have your benefits,” Jiang Xiuming said to Chen Fei without any room for negotiation..